When places such as colleges, universities or businesses review applications, certain elements of the applications are easily comparable. For example, if one student has a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.0 versus another student with a GPA of 2.5, clearly the GPA of 4.0 is higher. While the GPA is likely weighted against the quality of the school, there are still means of assigning values and computing a score that is easily compared. For example, if the schools are rated by tiers and the first school is rated a 0.9 while the second school is rated a 1.0, the first student receives a score of (4.0*0.9=3.6) versus (2.5*1.0=2.5) with the score of 3.6 being higher/better. However, there are elements in applications which are not easily quantifiable or comparable. Furthermore, there are laws that restrict using some characteristics in certain ways, such as quotas, as they are viewed as discriminatory. For example, it has been ruled unconstitutional to use a quota system to accept a certain number of people of a specific race.
Some attempts have been made for comparing these elements such as race, but they simply utilize a binary system of does the application have this element or not. Such attempts do not provide a sufficient comparison of the applications.